Request for information on Joint Waste Strategy

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your request for information, received on 9 February 2026. This has been allocated the reference number 2026-264 and is being handled under the Environment Information Regulations 2004. We can confirm we hold the information you have requested. Our response is as follows:

Your request: 

1. Whether the extra £1.7m budget allocation is for:

a. Waste Prevention (prevent, reduce, reuse and repair) only?

b. Waste Prevention (prevent, reduce, reuse and repair) and Recycling?

2. For the six ‘circular economy projects ‘ (i.e. prevent, reduce, reuse and repair)

presented in Section 2.20 of the Budget and Levy 2026/27 report:

a. How have they been chosen? (Noting that only 50% of them are clearly

circular economy projects.)

b. With what input from the North London community? (Objectives O3 and O4

of the North London Joint Waste Strategy.)

c. Why they are the most appropriate allocation of the £1.7m to achieve the

Aims, Objectives and Priorities of the North London Joint Waste Strategy, and

the associated Waste Hierarchy?

3. Why the forecast budget for Waste Prevention and Recycling Initiatives in 2027/28

and 2028/29 (Appendix B) reduces by £0.91m and £1.65m, respectively (compared

to the £2.67m budget for 2026/27)?

Our response:

Recycling is a key element of a circular economy, so the additional funding sits across both the waste prevention and recycling initiatives budget lines. Indeed, the paper outlining the proposed projects which was discussed at the December 2025 Authority meeting was titled Circular Economy and Recycling Initiatives. There is also an element of funding from packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) included in the Approach to Digital, Data and Technology paper discussed at the same meeting.

As presented and discussed in December, the initiatives were explicitly chosen to support the objectives of the Joint Waste Strategy. In developing the strategy, NLWA ran a two-stage engagement process to ensure the objectives reflect the priorities of north London’s residents. Thank you for your involvement in that process.

The paper also sets out how the Members Recycling Working Group steers the projects, and it also commits to reporting progress to the Authority and residents regularly.

Resident involvement is very important, which is why officers have just completed a co-design process for the next round of the North London Community Fund, and representatives of community organisations will be involved in shortlisting the proposed projects. Community groups are also being funded to deliver the “Bin less save more” food waste prevention workshops, and are benefiting from free compost produced from north London’s food and garden waste.

The precise level of pEPR funding that NLWA and the boroughs will receive in the future is not known, but based on the current tonnages it should still be significant for a number of years. Additional investment in circular economy and recycling to support the joint waste strategy objectives will be made, but it is important to test and evaluate initiatives before committing to multi-year funding.

Waste authorities face potentially significant financial pressures from: mandatory soft‑plastic collections despite currently limited recycling infrastructure, the loss of recyclate income as a result of a Deposit Return Scheme, and the costs arising from the Emissions Trading Scheme. Government has indicated that some of these costs could be addressed through pEPR funding, but NLWA continues to make the case that these impacts require dedicated financial arrangements so that pEPR payments can be used for circular economy initiatives and service improvements rather than covering other additional costs.

We appreciate your continued interest in this area of work and your engagement as we work towards a low waste north London.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you may ask for an internal review, which should be submitted within two months of when you received our response to either informationrequests@nlwa.gov.uk or via our enquiry form quoting the above reference.

If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you may complain to the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or via their online portal. The Information Commissioner will not usually accept complaints before a review has been completed.

Kind regards,

North London Waste Authority